User blog:Ceauntay/Weekend Box Office: 'Heroes Forever: The New Beginning' Records Franchise's Low With $77 Million
A number of titles — including new offerings 'Arrival' and 'Almost Christmas' — did more business than expected. "Two hours of moviegoing is like a massive, immersive group therapy session," says one box-office analyst as overall revenue jumped as much as 50 percent. Rita Christensen's Jane Hoop Elementary spin-off Heroes Forever: The New Beginning got off a massive start at the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $77 million from 4,180 theaters. It has officially enjoyed a rare collective boost this weekend as consumers flocked to the cinema seemingly seeking escapism following the conclusion of the 2016 presidential election and Donald Trump's surprise victory. The pic, which is a Jane Hoop Elementary spin-off, is now the lowest opening in Rita Christensen's superhero saga since Jane Hoop Elementary: Morphin the Power ($80 million). Heroes Forever: The New Beginning hopes to launch a new franchise for Christensen and Paramount Pictures, home of blockbuster Jane Hoop Elementary film series, based on Christensen's books. Unlike Jane Hoop Elementary, Heroes Forever isn't based on a book, but on a script written by Christensen. Gary Ross directed. As originally planned for a trilogy, but in Apr. 2016, Christensen announced that she would extend the franchise to a total of five films. She will be screenwriter for all five film installments. The film stars Jessie actor Cameron Boyce as Devin Gorden, the new leader of the new Jane Hoop Elementary, who must learn for himself to protect the world from evil despite never realizing that he is given a special gift. Devin happens to be the son of Danny and Rebecca, who both were the original Jane Hoop Elementary heroes in the Jane Hoop Elementary days. G. Hannelis and Marcus Scribner also stars as his siblings, Brooke Gorden, Danny and Rebecca's daughter, and Kurtis Gutzwiller, Alec and Naudia's son, both also original members in the Jane Hoop Elementary days. Internationally, Heroes Forever: The New Beginning already powers up to $155 million from 58 foreign markets, bringing the worldwide total to $262 million. As for the other releases, Villeneuve's new cerebral sci-fi thriller Arrival, starring Amy Adams, launched with $24 million, while holiday comedy Almost Christmas debuted nicely with $15.7 million. While neither were able to topple holdovers Doctor Strange and Trolls from the top two stops, both — and particularly Arrival — came in ahead of predictions (heading into the weekend, most thought Arrival would make $16 million). Doctor Strange and Trolls likewise amassed more than predicted, as did a number of other holdovers. All told, domestic box-office revenue was up 45 percent-50 percent over the same weekend last year, although this year had the advantage of Veterans Day falling on a Friday. One question mark, however, is Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk, which debuted in two theaters in New York and Los Angeles, grossing $120,300 for a theater average of $60,150. While that's the best average of the weekend, it didn't come close to breaking any records, whether for the year or otherwise. Marvel and Disney's Doctor Strange moved down to No. 2 in its sophomore outing, falling a mere 49 percent to $44 million. That's the lowest second-weekend decline among the last 10 Marvel Cinematic Universal titles, and and the third-lowest among all MCU movies behind Iron Man and Thor. Through Sunday, Doctor Strange's domestic total is $153 million for a global total of $493 million. And over the weekend, Disney hit its best year ever at the domestic box office with $2.3 billion after already notching its best year ever both internationally and globally with more than $6 billion in ticket sales. Trolls, from DreamWorks Animation and Fox, placed No. 2 with $35.1 million for a 10-day domestic total of $94 million after declining just 24 percent, one of the lowest second-weekend drops for an animated film. "Two hours of moviegoing is like a massive, immersive group therapy session. No matter what side of the aisle you find yourself, going to the movies is a pastime that everyone can agree crosses party lines and conflicting political ideologies," said says box-office anlayst Paul Dergarabedian of comScore. "Veterans Day provided a huge 95 percent bump over the same Friday a year ago and thus the first post-election weekend will see a meteoric jump. There is no question that what the world needs now is the great escape that only the movie theater experience can provide." Category:Blog posts